Frenzy
by MrsLittletall
Summary: An encounter with an Amygdala leaves Laurence in a catatonic state and Ludwig worried sick about him.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: An encounter with an Amygdala leaves Laurence in a catatonic state and Ludwig worried sick about him.

The creature was sitting on top of Odeon Chapel.

Laurence blinked once, twice. It didn't disappear. It just sat there with its too many eyes and too many arms. Like a grotesque, oversized wall spider.

Laurence closed and rubbed his eyes. Surely this was just a hallucination. Sleep deprivation probably. He opened them again and the creature was still there.

"Laurence, what's wrong?", Ludwig asked. Laurence suddenly was aware that he had stopped walking and stood there as stiff as a statue, just staring at the nightmare in front of him. Laurence had a hard time to detach his gaze from the creature and look into Ludwig's eyes instead. There was a flash of concern in them. Ludwig didn't seem to notice the creature above them at all.

"C... can't you see this, Ludwig?", Laurence asked, raising a shaking hand to point at the being. Ludwig's gaze followed Laurence' pointed out finger and worry flashed over his face.

"There is nothing there? Laurence, are you sure you are alright? Are you seeing things again? If you aren't feeling well, we should cancel the whole event."

Laurence shook his head: "No, no I am alright. Probably just sleep deprivation. I don't want to disappoint the people who have come here for the event."

Nonetheless, Laurence clung to Ludwig's arm as they crossed the last few meters into Odeon Chapel. Laurence couldn't take his gaze off the creature.

Just before they entered Odeon Chapel, Laurence had the impression that it blinked! He started to shake.

"I know one thing, once we are back into the church, you go straight to bed.", Ludwig said. "You are clinging so hard to my arm that it hurts. Your lack of sleep lately really is chipping at your health."

Laurence didn't answer. The realization that he was now _iinside/i_ the building with the creature on it, made him shake even harder.

"Definitely getting you into bed once this is over.", Ludwig muttered. Laurence suddenly was painfully aware just how hard he had clung to Ludwig's arm and finally let go. He could see how Ludwig massaged the spot he had clung onto. Laurence took a few deep breathes. He had to calm down, relax. This thing wasn't real, it couldn't do anything to him. Just a hallucination. Just a bad dream.

Laurence got startled by the sound of a a tall figure stepping next to them, he recognized the man as the young priest who often would preach in or outside of Odeon Chapel. He remembered that the had some strange name, but he couldn't remember it and when his life would had depended on it. He only remembered that it reminded him of some sauce made from an exotic fruit which originated in a far away country.

"Vicar Laurence, Hunter Ludwig, it's good to see that you managed to come.", he said, giving them a church bow. Laurence and Ludwig both reciprocated the gesture.

"Father Gascoigne, it is good to see you too.", Ludwig answered. Of course, that has been his name. Laurence blamed his sleep deprived hallucinations for his bad memory.

Gascoigne stared at Laurence and Laurence could see the same wave of concern that had flashed in Ludwig's eyes: "Your grace, are you sure you are feeling alright? You seem to be awfully pale."

"That's just the lighting in here.", Laurence murmured. He could hear Ludwig huff next to him. The holy blade never approved how careless Laurence was with his health. He probably would make his threat true and stuff him into bed once they were back into the church. At least he had stopped shaking.

"I assure you, I am completely fine. I will be able to hold the mass and hopefully get some courage into our people by talking directly to them."

Holding a mass at Odeon Chapel had been Ludwig's idea. The great cathedral nowadays was mostly visited by nobles. The common folks barely had a chance to see Laurence. Ludwig felt that it would just be fair to come to them instead, to show them that he cared. Laurence had to agree to this.

They would be less likely to revolt when he would show his face around them and be there for them and if just for a few hours.

Still, he hoped that this all would be over quickly. Laurence stared at the ceiling of Odeon Chapel, wondering if the creature with the too many eyes still was out there. That thing had looked so _ireal/i. _Laurence suddenly doubted that he merely had hallucinations.

He shook his head, no, this thing couldn't be real. Such a creature couldn't exist. It was impossible for such a thing to be real.

"It surely will help our people to hear your words, especially with the threat of the hunt looming above us.", Gascoigne said. Hearing this words, Laurence remembered from where Ludwig knew him. Gascoigne was not only a priest, but also a hunter, though one of the independent ones, first established by Gehrman.

Once again Laurence wondered where Gehrman was right now. Maybe the creature on the chapel would knew? He shuddered again as guilt washed above him. He shouldn't think about this. It had been Gehrman's own choice.

After Gascoigne had led them into the middle of the chapel, he told them that he would let the people in now. While they were still alone, Ludwig fumbled around on Laurence' clothes.

"Your shawl is all messed up.", he said as he fixed it.

"What are you, my wife?", Laurence asked, but not without a grin. Which fell instantly when he remembered the creature he had seen sitting on Odeon Chapel.

It's just a hallucination. Ludwig hadn't seen it, it had to be a hallucination. But why was he feeling so uneasy about a mere hallucination? He probably needed to go to bed. He was only so freaked out because of the sleep deprivation.

Also, Gascoigne surely wouldn't lead people into a chapel which had some kind of monster sitting on it.

But when Ludwig couldn't see it, Gascoigne probably couldn't either...

Laurence felt a headache coming.

During the whole event, Laurence couldn't stop thinking about the creature. He had to do his best to not let it shine through, how... afraid he truly was. Yes, he was afraid. Of that thing. Sweat had formed at his forehead and he had a hard time suppressing the need to shiver. Hopefully the people just thought that he was sweating because the chapel was a lot warmer from the inside that it had looked from the outside.

At least he didn't had gotten one of his nosebleeds.

He needed to calm down. He shouldn't freak out about this so much. He merely did had hallucinations.

But somewhere deep inside Laurence knew, that it wasn't. He just wanted to believe it was a hallucination.

Like the shadows he always would see flashing by when wandering through Yharnam.

A few hours later the mass was over, the people were satisfied (with the occasional threat blurted at him, but these people quickly shrunk under Ludwig's glare) and Laurence had a splitting headache indeed.

Now he even welcomed going to bed.

Father Gascoigne thanked them one last time and led them out of the chapel.

Once they were outside, Laurence felt like a dozen eyes stared at him.

He slowly turned around to see that the nightmarish creature still was sitting on Odeon Chapel.

He clung to Ludwig's arm, shaking like a leave in the wind.

No way that this was a hallucination when it still sat there after several hours had passed.

"...Let's get you into bed.", Ludwig said while they walked back to the church.

Ludwig had made his threat true and ushered Laurence right into bed once they were back into the church.

But even after several hours had passed, Laurence hadn't managed to get to sleep. Instead, he just tossed and turned around. The creature of Odeon Chapel too fresh in his mind.

Eventually, he gave up. He got up and dressed himself. Maybe wandering around the church would calm him down.

Laurence slipped out of his door and started to wander aimlessly. Only the occasional church hunter on duty crossed his path which were quick to gave him a respectful bow.

Laurence stopped at a window located in one of the upper floors of the church. It was one of his favourite places. He could look over the whole town of Yharnam form there.

He even could see Odeon Chapel.

With the nightmare creature on it.

Laurence backed away.

The temptation to go into Ludwig's room and just cling to him for the rest of the night was strong, very strong, but...

Would he really let get himself down by some creature sitting on some tiny chapel?

Why was he even scared?

That was his town, dammit, and he would show this creature that he wouldn't back away!

Half an hour later Laurence found himself in front of Odeon Chapel, the creature painfully near, apparently staring at nothing.

By the great ones, what had he been thinking?

It was even _iscarier/i_ at night.

No, that wouldn't be it. He came here to face his fears, not getting eaten by them. He took a step forward.

And backed away instantly when the creature cocked its big head into his direction.

No, not backing away. That wasn't what he had come here for.

He took another step forward and loudly said: "You! I am not afraid of you! Whatever you are. This is my town and what where you thinking making it yourself comfortable here?!"

His voice oozed confidence, but in reality he was so afraid that he felt like pissing himself.

The creature blinked and Laurence had a hard time to not actually piss himself at this sight. Dozen of eyes, suddenly opened up looking like purple little dimensions.

It was far too unreal.

A part of him told him that he should go, just turn around, go back to the church. Climb into Ludwig's bed and forget about this whole nightmare.

But his pride forced him to go even nearer to the creature.

"Look, I am not afraid of you.", he said, spreading his arms.

The creature's head followed every single one of his movements.

When of the long arms of the nightmarish monster reached down and grabbed him, Laurence was suddenly aware that he probably had made on of the worst mistakes of his life. He should have just crawled into Ludwig's bed instead. Instead of having a nice sleep next to his boyfriend however, he was lifted in the air, hanging limp because he feared any struggling could hurt. The creature's grip was strong. It was holding him slightly in front of his face.

And then he was hit with the weirdest sensation that ever had occurred to him. It was a voice, but he didn't hear the voice. Instead, it felt like it was in his head, coming from all sides at once.

_iYou. Enjoy the glimpse into the nightmare. Your own future./i_

Somewhere deep inside him, Laurence was aware that his bladder finally had given, he was wetting himself, staining his pants. He didn't manage to be embarrassed though. He was far too distracted. By the pictures that flooded into his head.

A distorted town, that strangely resembled Yharnam, beasts, loads of beasts, locked in an eternal fight with the hunters, a grotesque horse like monster, a flaming beast, the biggest one he had ever seen.

Laurence already did had a bad headache, but now his head felt like splitting apart. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out of it.

Then it was over as soon as it had started. Laurence hung completely limp into the grip of the nightmarish creature. He was aware that he seemed to fall, but before he could hit the ground, all senses left him and only darkness remained.

(Author's note: So, I headcanon that Laurence has an absurdly high insight and is able to see the lesser Amygadala.

And while frenzy is some bullshit for game mechanics, from a lore stand point it is super interesting to explore and this is what I want to do with this piece. How it works like outside of game mechanics but more when it would be real.

This piece is probably not going to be super long, but I still want to divide it into chapters to make it easier readable instead of a oneshot.

Also, hooray, look at me starting another WIP instead of working on my already existing ones... My apologies, I had a huge burst of inspiration and needed to get this out.)


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: When Laurence gets delivered back to the church by Father Gascoigne, something seems to be wrong.

When Ludwig awoke the next day, he had expected that Laurence had crawled into his bed, so he was a bit surprised to see that this hadn't been the case.

Instantly, a bit of worry bloomed into his chest. He never had seen Laurence so afraid before. Just what had it been that he had seen at Odeon Chapel? With the way Laurence had clung to him on the whole way back to the church, Ludwig had been sure he would crawl into his bed.

Or maybe he just had been that exhausted that he had fallen asleep right there and then and was still in his room. Ludwig could wake him later and share some breakfast with him, after he had gotten ready for the day. He stood up to fulfil his usual morning routine.

After Ludwig was ready, he strolled over to Laurence' room and knocked first. There was no answer. He probably was still asleep then. Laurence tended to sleep for a long time when he had gone without sleep for days.

Ludwig pressed the handle and entered the room only to see that Laurence wasn't there. The sheets on his bed were messed up and implied that he had been there though. Maybe he already had gotten up? Ludwig intended to stop by at his office.

But Laurence also wasn't in his office and the room was far too tidy, he hadn't been there today yet. Ludwig frowned, now that was strange. Where could he be? While Ludwig wandered the hallways, thinking about where he could search further for Laurence, he ran into Florence, Laurence' personal secretary.

"Oh good morning, Ludwig.", she said. "By any chance have you seen the Vicar?"

"Good morning, Florence. And no, in fact I am searching for him myself.", he answered. "...Did something happen?"

"Some of the church hunters have seen him roaming around shortly past midnight and one of them stated they have seen him leaving the church. And... well, he wasn't there for the morning prayer. We all were searching for him, but we were unable to find him."

"He left? Where could he have gone?", Ludwig asked. "And more importantly... why hasn't he come back?"

"You have been with him yesterday. Did anything happen?"

Ludwig didn't had to think twice. "He had hallucinations again. Claimed that there was something on Odeon Chapel. I couldn't see anything. But... he clearly was afraid of whatever he had seen.", he explained. "Maybe... maybe he went back there? Even though I don't have a clue why he would do that."

Florence shrugged. "Just tell us should you find him.", she said and was on her way, probably to interrogate other people about the Vicar's whereabouts.

Odeon Chapel... It was worth a try. Ludwig took a turn and walked into the direction of the main cathedral, which was the easiest entrance and exit out of the church. Just as he had almost reached the large door, he heard a knock on it and the voice of Father Gascoigne: "Excuse me, is someone there?"

"Yes.. yes, it's me, Ludwig the holy Blade.", he answered. "Did something happen?"

"You could say that. It is about Vicar Laurence."

"Did you find him?!", Ludwig was all too eager to open the doors for the young priest now. Once the large doors were open, Laurence really stood next to Gascoigne.

"Laurence, thank the great ones.", Ludwig rushed over to him to give him a hug. "I was really worried when I heard you left in the middle of the night. What were you thinking?! ...Laurence...?"

It ocurred to Ludwig that Laurence didn't hug him back. Or had said anything. Or acknowledged Ludwig's existence. He released him from the hug and gave him a deep look.

Laurence seemed to be awake, but it felt like he wasn't really there. His eyes were kind of blank and he seemed to stare at nothing at particular.

Ludwig waved a hand in front of his eyes. "Laurence, what's wrong?!" A slight panic rose in his voice. He was completely unresponsive.

"When I found him outside of Odeon Chapel he was in this state.", Gascoigne started to explain. "I thought he was unconscious, so I brought him inside and wanted to wait for him to wake up. But after a good while had passed, he still hadn't 'woken' up. That was when I checked if he really was unconscious and checked if he could stand on his own. He did once I pulled him up, but … de didn't respond regardless what I said to him and didn't move at all, just stared into nothingness. Eventually I decided to bring him here. Luckily he walked with me when I took his arm like this."

Gascoigne demonstrated his words and Laurence actually did walk a few steps with him.

"I thought it was best to bring him back to the Healing Church, after all, you have the most medical knowledge at one place."

Ludwig's heart sank. Something, anything had happened to Laurence. And he didn't had a clue what it was. He wanted nothing more but to bring Laurence to the infirmary, to get him healed from whatever this was. But he couldn't just dismiss Gascoigne's kindness.

"Thank you very much for taking care of him and bringing him back here.", he said.

"It was nothing.", Gascoigne said. His voice fell to a whisper: "Among us, better clean him up and get his pants changed. I am pretty sure he wet himself. His pants were all damp when I found him."

Ludwig involuntary looked down and indeed he could see that a part of Laurence' pants was a bit darker.

Which worried him even more. Laurence would never run around with stained pants without dying from embarrassment.

"I will go back to the chapel now. Come over when you have further questions.", Gascoigne said.

"Of course, good bye.", Ludwig said, his head felt like it was spinning.

Yesterday he had expected to find Laurence in his bed with him, today he was delivered at the front of the church door in a state of total unresponsiveness.

Ludwig stared until Gascoigne was gone and then closed the doors. He then turned to Laurence and took his arm like Gascoigne had showed. "Let's... let's clean you up first.", he said and led Laurence into the direction of the nearest bathroom. He was glad that the grand cathedral had been empty, there wasn't a mass today and the morning prayer wasn't held here every day. It also probably had gotten delayed because of Laurence' missing.

With Laurence being in that state, Ludwig doubted that there would be masses or morning prayers in the near future.

A few minutes later Ludwig had made it to a bathroom and undressed Laurence to take care of the "accident" he must have had.

While he cleaned him up, Ludwig noticed that both of his knees were scraped, one of them looked like it had bled and just healed recently. Surely that must have hurt? But when he had led Laurence to the bathroom, the vicar hadn't showed any signs of pain. He hadn't even been limping.

This and his unresponsiveness worried him more and more. Laurence didn't complain about being manhandled at all when he carefully cleaned him and just continued to stare with this empty eyes, his mouth halfway opened. Ludwig could hear him breathe. It didn't sound like he was upset or afraid, they were steady and sounded calm.

Ludwig couldn't help but narrate every of his actions to Laurence. The silence made him near crazy. He wasn't used to Laurence being like this. So... utterly silent. It felt like he was in another plane of existence.

After Laurence had been cleaned up, Ludwig realized that he hadn't brought any spare clothes for him. Of course he couldn't wear the stained drawers and pants anymore. Luckily, there usually always was a church set lying around in the bathroom. Ludwig rummaged around for a bit and when he found it, carefully dressed Laurence into it, tossing the stained ones into the basket for the laundry. He didn't had found any underwear though, but the clothes just had to suffice until he had brought Laurence to his room.

Was... Was Laurence even able to go to the bathroom in this state? Probably not. Should Laurence not get better soon, this surely felt like a problem he had to take care off, but for now he didn't want to think about.

Laurence just had to get better soon.

After Laurence was dressed, Ludwig took him at the arm again, saying: "Let's get you to your room."

On his way he ran into Florence, who gasped.

"Ludwig, you found him." She looked at Laurence. "Where have you been, your grace?", And then the same worry that Ludwig felt in his heart showed in her face. "What's wrong?"

"Florence, get a doctor to his room. He's sick. Or hurt. I don't know.", Ludwig said. Florence quickly nodded and Ludwig saw her form disappear behind a corner.

"Just what has happened to you?", Ludwig asked while he led Laurence to his room. No response.

Once he opened the door to the room, he led Laurence to the bed and carefully sat him down there, rummaging in his cupboards until he found a pyjama. Once again he manhandled Laurence while undressing and dressing him (at least this time he could give him some underwear) and he didn't complain or move in the slightest.

Finally, Ludwig picked Laurence up and carefully placed him in his bed in a sitting position, covering him with the blankets. Laurence stayed in the exact same position Ludwig had put him in.

Shortly after a knock was heard and the voice of Florence sounded: "Ludwig, I brought a doctor. Can we enter?"

"Of course.", Ludwig said and Florence entered accompanied by one of the church doctors.

"What happened to him?", the doctor asked and Ludwig repeated what Gascoigne had told him, minus the part that he had wetted his pants. Surely he could spare him this embarrassment.

The doctor made a series of examinations. "Have you tried hooking him up on blood yet?", they asked. Ludwig shook his head. "I first wanted to know what he has."

In Ludwig's opinion Laurence relied a bit too much on blood and he often prohibited for him to use it when he felt it got too much, but when the blood would manage to get Laurence out of this state, he would hook him up on three blood bags at once.

"This state he's in... that looks like it could be a catatonic state.", the doctor said.

"It can show in various signs, we see it with him being unresponsive and in a stupor which is like, not moving at all, like we see here.", they explained further.

"But he was walking with me when I took his arm.", Ludwig said.

"People in a catatonic state also tend to repeat movements. Maybe he just walked with you, because you did.", the doctor said.

"Problem is... the cause of this state is unknown to us. I have examined him and can't find any grave injuries, he only has a few scrapes. Our best bet is some kind of trauma, but without him being able to respond, we won't find out what it is."

The more Ludwig listened, the more he felt the horror in his chest: "What does this mean? Is he staying like this?"

"It depends. Often people who are catatonic get out of it eventually, but it can be a recurring state. For now, I would like to hook him up on some blood and see if it helps. Would you please step aside?"

"Of course.", Ludwig said, he hadn't even realized that he had started to stroke Laurence' hair while the doctor talked. They quickly prepared a blood bag and got the needle into Laurence' hand.

"For now we have to wait. Call us if he shows any signs of improvement or worsening."

"Of course, thank you very much.", Ludwig said, even though he didn't knew how Laurence should be able to get into an even worse state, and the doctor left. Ludwig sighed when Florence cleared her throat. Right, she had been there this whole time.

"I guess I better cancel all his appointments...", she said, making a turn for the door.

After Florence had left, Ludwig left himself fall on the bed.

"I really hope you get better soon.", he said and continued to stroke Laurence hair.

Normally Laurence would melt under this treatment, but this time, nothing.

Ludwig felt like crying.

(Author's note: So I made some research about people who are in a catatonic state, but it wasn't easy to find resources. It also is a fantasy related injury, so I decided to be a bit more liberal with my writing.

If anyone who reads this knows more about people being in a catatonic state and notices any mistakes, please tell me, so that I can correct them. Thank you very much.)


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: Ludwig takes care of Laurence.

Ludwig didn't knew how long he had sitting at Laurence bed, stroking his hair, when his stomach loudly grumbled.

Right, he hadn't eaten anything yet. Although Ludwig didn't had much of an appetite, he knew that not eating would be even worse for his health. His gaze fell on Laurence, who still sat on the same position in his bed, his blank eyes staring at nothing in particular.

Would he be able to eat? Would he accept any food that would be put into his mouth and chew and swallow it? Or was he in danger to choke?

Whatever the answer was, Ludwig just couldn't let Laurence starve.

"Don't go anywhere, I will be back right away.", Ludwig said when he stood up, noticing how stupid that must have sounded.

Where should Laurence go when he was literally unable to move on his own?

Ludwig glanced one last time at Laurence before he left the room, hastening to the mess hall.

Shortly after he left, Ludwig entered Laurence' room again. Like expected, Laurence hadn't moved at all. Ludwig put the brought food onto the night stand and went to close the door.

"I don't know if you can eat solid food, so I brought some oatmeal.", he explained to Laurence, who, of course, didn't react.

"Come, let's get some food into you.", Ludwig said farther, sitting down next to Laurence. Ludwig had brought some food for his own, but had eaten the first half on his way back to Laurence' room and intended to eat the rest later. He could wait.

Ludwig picked up the bowl with oatmeal, he had made care that it wouldn't be too hot, he didn't want for Laurence to burn himself, and a spoon and carefully instilled the puree into Laurence mouth, keeping his head slightly turned upwards. He seemed to be lucky, because Laurence' swallowing reflex seemed to take over and put the oat meal in the right place.

Of course, feeding Laurence like this took a long time. With each new spoon, Ludwig feared that he would accidentally choke Laurence. Would he even notice if he choked or only when it was too late? Laurence wasn't exactly in the right state to call for help or gesture when something was wrong. Maybe he should have left this procedure to the medicinal stuff at the infirmary.

Maybe that would have been the wiser decision..., but for now, everything seemed to work out. The bowl of oatmeal was empty and successfully transported into Laurence' digestive system. Right, that reminded Ludwig of the problem, that Laurence surely wouldn't be able to use the bathroom on his own like this. He probably needed to accompany to him. At least in this state Laurence wouldn't mind.

Which almost made Ludwig's heart break. He was so... lifeless. Laurence didn't felt like a human, but some obscure life sized doll which somehow breathed. Ludwig briefly was reminded of the life size doll of Lady Maria, that Gehrman had made. With the difference, that this doll was truly not alive, but Laurence was. Only that at the moment, they hardly could be distinguished.

"You should drink something too.", Ludwig said and led a glass with water to Laurence' lips. This turned out to be more difficult than feeding him. Ludwig was extra careful with the water, so that he wouldn't choke Laurence, but in return half of it leaked out of Laurence' mouth and dripped on his pyjama and blankets instead. That was less than optimal. Should Ludwig give Laurence' drinks in a bottle like a baby would get? At least like this nothing would leak out, but he hadn't actually seen them in adult size.

Besides, this felt so wrong. Little children needed the help of their parents because they were still weak and developing and couldn't do it on their own, but Laurence was a grown adult. He just had... some weird sickness. Or injury? The church doctor could only name the symptom, but not the cause.

"Just what was it that has you left in this state?", Ludwig asked as he wiped Laurence' mouth.

In the meantime, the old blood in the blood bag hooked up to Laurence had completely entered his blood stream. And no improvement so far.

Ludwig searched for some gauze and found it in Laurence' night stand. He carefully pulled the needled that had been stung into Laurence' right hand and quickly pressed the gauze on the tiny wound to avoid bruising.

There was no sound, no wince, nothing. Laurence just kept sitting in the same position staring blankly at nothing.

As Ludwig bandaged Laurence hand, it probably was completely redundant, but he wanted to get sure, the gravity of the situation hit him and tears finally started to stream down his face, as he hugged his motionless boyfriend.

Guilt bubbled up in Ludwig's chest, if he just could have avoided this somehow... but he didn't even knew what actually happened to Laurence. The only clue was Odeon Chapel. And how afraid Laurence had acted around it the day prior.

But even though Laurence had been afraid, that had been far better than the emotionless, motionless state he was in right now.

Ludwig finally released Laurence from his tearful hug, considering. When Laurence would stay in the same position all the time, wouldn't he get sore? He probably should shift him around. At least with the blood ministration needle out, this wouldn't be much of a problem.

Ludwig shifted Laurence into another position and stepped away from the bed, his gaze on the food he had brought for himself.

He hadn't much of an appetite, but he would force it down nonetheless. Because not eating anything at all would make his situation only worse.

Ludwig was halfway through his first slice of bread, when it occurred to him that he completely had neglected his own duties in favour of taking care of Laurence today. At the same time, it occurred to him, that nobody actually had come asking for him. And that was when he heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?", he asked, gaze at Laurence. He didn't knew if anyone in the church besides Florence and the church doctor knew about Laurence' condition. It probably was the best thing to not make public for now.

"It's me, Florence.", Florence' voice sounded. "Can I come in?"

Ludwig relaxed. Florence was safe. She surely wouldn't have told the whole church of Laurence' condition. She also knew about the relationship of the two, once accidentally having them busted when they had been locked into a passionate kiss. Florence had just cleared her throat and apologized for the disturbance, but Ludwig was sure she never had told a single soul about what she had seen.

Laurence and Ludwig both had agreed that it was better when their relationship was not public and having someone who knew this secret had always been a great relieve.

"Of course, come in.", Ludwig said and the door opened, Florence quietly slipping in.

"How is he?", she asked, but one gaze at him gave her the answer. "No improvement so far?"

Ludwig nodded, sighing: "Yes, sadly. Say, what have you told the others when you cancelled his appointments?"

"I said that he wasn't feeling well, but of course didn't say his exact condition. Only the doctors know it, because I heard them discussing how they were going to treat him.", Florence answered. "And please don't worry about your duties, Ludwig, I have found a substitute for today. I said that you also weren't feeling to well. Half the church now thinks that there is some virus spreading, but that is better than them panicking."

"Yes, indeed.", Ludwig agreed. "Though I fear we can't keep this a secret for long, should he..." Ludwig hardly dared to finish this sentence. "...should he stay this way."

"For now, all we can do is wait.", Florence sighed. "Just stay with him, Ludwig, I am sure he appreciates it... Anyway, I should go now. There is still a lot to do. And I apologize for having interrupted your meal."

With that, Florence turned around and left the room as quietly as she had slipped in. Ludwig quietly finished his meal. When he looked out of the window, he noticed that in the meantime, it already was around noon.

At this time, the church would be pretty empty, with most of the people being at their lunch break. It was the right opportunity to lead Laurence to the bathroom without anyone seeing them.

After all, it would be better for both Ludwig and Laurence that he didn't need to change and clean him up every time he needed to go.

A short while later Ludwig had learned, that accompanying Laurence to any bathroom breaks was indeed the right way, his body seemed to understand what it should do once placed at the right location, but he still needed to remember to actually do this regularly. After all, Laurence wasn't in a state to ask Ludwig for a bathroom break. If he would have been in a state to ask for it, he probably would be able to go on his own.

Ludwig brought Laurence back to his bed and carefully placed him in it. "In this state, you require a lot of care taking.", he murmured. "Florence won't be able to cover for me forever. I probably need to deliver you to the infirmary tomorrow.", he said. No reaction from Laurence of course.

Maybe... maybe there was something he could do? Maybe Laurence would get out of it when he just found the right stimuli? It was worth a try.

Ludwig's gaze fell on a book with poetry in it, placed next to Laurence' bed. He probably had read this before..., well, before the unknown incident happened.

Ludwig picked the book up and began reciting the poetries in it to Laurence.

Once he was done reciting the whole book, the evening had already come. No reaction. Ludwig noticed that he was not only very thirsty from talking aloud so much, but also that he was hungry again.

Sighing, he put the book down.

"I'll get us some dinner and then I'll wash you up before bed.", he said.

After Ludwig had taken care of Laurence for the evening and put him back into his bed after he had cleaned him up, he decided to sleep with him in the same bed.

He didn't even knew if Laurence would be able to sleep in that state. He very much felt like sleeping with open eyes. Worse even, because a sleeping person would at least move around.

Ludwig put on his own pyjama and carefully slipped under the blankets next to Laurence, carefully laying him down. His blank eyes stared at him, no, seemed like they stared at him, but he wasn't staring at Ludwig in particular.

"Let's sleep now, shall we?", Ludwig said and carefully closed the lids of Laurence' eyes before lying down and closing his own eyes.

After a short while, Ludwig felt something tug at his arm.

When he opened his eyes, he noticed that Laurence had clung to his arm.

(Author's note: So, uh, a few things I want to address.

First, it is a real big pet peeve of mine when it isn't explained in a fic or book how a character in a state like Laurence is right now takes care of their bathroom breaks. I mean, in modern society we just use catheters, but we are in a victorian era and so I decided to explain this shortly.

Second, it occurred to me that Laurence has Ebrietas in his basement, so why should he be afraid of the Amygdala? But, yeah, Ebrietas is completely docile and only attacks when you are mean to her. Also, I headcanon that she once was found in the Chalice Dungeons, where Laurence assumes the Great Ones mostly reside.

The Amydgala's on the other hand, they sit all around Yharnam like they own the place and have a very obvious connection to the nightmare, with the one on Odeon Chapel even bringing you to the Hunter's Nightmare, which is Laurence' eternal hell.

So yeah, it makes sense for Laurence to be a lot more terrified of the Amydgala than he would be of Ebrietas.)


	4. Chapter 4

Summary: Laurence doesn't seem to get better...

When Ludwig woke up the next morning, Laurence hadn't stopped clinging to his arm.

Which also probably meant that he hadn't moved at all this night, he must feel sore. Ludwig shuffled around in the bed, carefully removed Laurence' arms of his own and put him into a sitting position.

Laurence still was motionless and unresponsive. The clinging to Ludwig's arm had been the most motion he had shown the past day.

"But that means you are still there...", Ludwig murmured, while Laurence stared into the room.

Ludwig was aware, that he would need to get ready for his duties soon. He couldn't let Florence cover for him twice days in a row with a made up lie. He should get Laurence over to the infirmary.

Ludwig stood up and dressed himself before searching Laurence' cupboard for his usual church attire. When he found it, he pulled Laurence out of the bed and led him over to a chair.

"Let's make you presentable.", he said, as he undressed Laurence' pyjama, gave him a fresh pair of drawers and slowly dressed him in the church attire, finishing with tying the holy shawl around Laurence' neck. Then, he picked up a brush to get some tidiness in Laurence' messed up bed hair.

Brushing Laurence' hair took some while, because the brush had to untangle quite a few knots. Ludwig didn't thought that this could be comfortable, but Laurence didn't complain or move. He was exactly like yesterday.

Had the movement just been some coincidence...?

No, that couldn't be it. It had to mean something. Maybe laying next to Laurence had reminded him of his usual sleeping position next to Ludwig.

After a while all the knots were untangled and Ludwig continued to brush Laurence' hair until it fell in soft waves on his shoulders.

Now that Laurence looked presentable enough, Ludwig just had to lead him to to bathroom and get some food and water into him before delivering him to the infirmary.

In hindsight, maybe Ludwig should have fed him before he dressed him, but he just made sure to bind a towel around Laurence so that he couldn't soil his clothes. After Laurence had been taken care off, Ludwig quickly scarfed down his own food and then rose Laurence to his feet, who he had parked sitting on the bed.

Laurence walked with him like usual. Ludwig made sure to be extra careful, so that Laurence wouldn't trip over anything that could lie in the way. Once they made it to the infirmary, Ludwig knocked, waiting for one of the doctors to open the door.

"Oh, it's you.", the same doctor from yesterday had opened the door, their gaze on Laurence, who stood motionless next to Ludwig. "Any improvements or worsening?"

"No, not at all. He is the same as yesterday.", Ludwig said. Well, technically there was an improvement, Laurence having cuddled up against him, but... there was no way he could say this without giving away their relationship.

He didn't even knew if it had been a coincidence or not.

"I have to attend to my duties, so I wanted to ask you to watch over him.", Ludwig explained, carefully leading Laurence into the infirmary.

"Of course, we will take good care of him.", the doctor said. Ludwig released Laurence' arm and watched how the doctor took it instead, talking to Laurence, leading him away.

With a sinking feeling in his heart, Ludwig took one last glance into Laurence' direction before turning around and leaving the infirmary.

Once it was time for his break, Ludwig ate as quickly as possible and then rushed to the infirmary. He knocked at the door, smoothing down the wrinkles in his clothes while he waited. Shortly after the door was opened a crack by the current doctor on duty.

"I... just wanted to check how Laurence is doing.", Ludwig said and was allowed to step in as the door opened completely. Ludwig stepped in and caught of glimpse of Laurence and a nurse which carefully took care of a bloody nose.

"Did.. did something happen?", Ludwig rushed over, worry in his voice, as he scanned Laurence for injuries. The only thing he spotted however was that the nose bleed had made a mess on his clothes.

"N.. not at all.", the nurse replied, slightly started by Ludwig's sudden appearance. "Just one of his usual nosebleeds. We noticed it a bit late, so he bled all over himself. Sorry." She scraped the ground with her foot. "He.. he isn't exactly able to tell us when he needs help."

"I.. I know, sorry, I didn't want to accuse you of anything.", Ludwig sighed. He looked a bit closer at Laurence. He had been put in a wheelchair, but other than the nosebleed, which had started to cease, he couldn't see any injuries. He pointed at the wheelchair. "Why this? He walks on his own if you just take his arm."

"Ludwig, you are aware that you are almost 2 meters tall and he is tiny for you? Vicar Laurence may not be very tall, but it is still easier for a lot of us to move him around in a wheelchair. That's all." The nurse gently cleaned the area around Laurence' nose and mouth where the blood had crusted. He just let himself cleaned up without protest, still staring.

"I am sorry...", Ludwig said, kneeling next to Laurence to be more at his height, stroking over his hair.

"I wanted to try to feed him now. Did you already try it out? Did he eat?", the nurse asked. "Sometimes people in a catatonic state downright refuse to eat, which can be quite a problem."

"He did eat.", Ludwig said. "I only tried out mush though. I doubt he would chew."

The nurse nodded in acknowledgement of his words and returned with a bowl of soup. When Ludwig saw her placing Laurence at a table, the soup in front of him, her picking the spoon up, he intervened: "Um... could I do that, please?"

"Ludwig, I am an examined nurse. I am surely knowing how to feed an unresponsive patient without choking them. Besides, don't you need to return to your duties soon? You probably already know how long it takes to feed someone who can't move.", the nurse said, in a pretty sharp tone. Ludwig shrank a bit under her words. He, as the holy blade, wasn't used that people talked back to him, but he also knew, she had a point. She was far better suited to take care of Laurence than him.

He still stared at her with wide, pleading eyes.

"..How about I show you the correct method?", she proposed and Ludwig gladly took it.

After Ludwig had learned how to feed Laurence without actually choking him and also been shown a method how to give him a drink without soiling his clothes every time (the nurse just used a dropper), he talked with the doctor.

"So, the old blood didn't help.", the doctor said.

Ludwig shook his head. "No, all it did was healing the scrapes and bruises he had suffered." Ludwig had noticed it when he had cleaned Laurence up yesterday evening.

"We probably don't have to deal with a traditional injury or sickness then.", the doctor glanced at Laurence. "I still think that his state is associated with some trauma, but..."

Ludwig didn't need to hear the rest of the unspoken sentence. With Laurence in that state it was impossible for him to tell them.

"Isn't there a medicine you can try out?", Ludwig asked.

"Without knowing what he has? The old blood was our best bet, because it is a safe, easy healing method without any side effects. But if even that doesn't work..." The doctor sighed. "We will continue our research, but for now, all we can do is wait."

Ludwig wasn't ready to give up yet. "And there isn't like.. a medicine that can be given to at least lessen his symptoms?"

"Sadly, no one has invented a medicine that can lessen catatonic symptoms yet."

"...Understood.. Thank you for trying though. I need to return to my duties now."

Ludwig stood up and walked over to Laurence to say his goodbyes. "Don't worry, I will come back later.", he said with a stroke over his hair.

Was Laurence even able to worry? It was easy to assume that he wasn't there, but wasn't there also the possibility that he was fully aware of what was happening around him and he just was like.. trapped in his body?

Ludwig shuddered at the thought. He thoroughly hoped that Laurence was unaware of his state. That sounded too cruel.

After Ludwig was done with his duties, he practically rushed back to the infirmary to take Laurence back into his care. The nurse who had taken care of him earlier gladly led Ludwig to Laurence' position, who had been put near a window overlooking a portion of the town.

"So that he at least has something nice to say.", the nurse explained.

Ludwig gently rose Laurence' to his feet and tugged at his arm so that he would walk with him. After a short while they arrived back at Laurence' room, where the first thing Ludwig did, was to dress Laurence into a pyjama, finally getting the blood stained clothes of him.

It occurred to Ludwig, that now Laurence had stained his clothes twice in a row because of his state. He felt a bit sorry for the laundry team having to deal with this mess. After Laurence clothes were changed, Ludwig gently tucked him into his bed.

Ludwig intended to spend the whole evening with Laurence and so he started with telling Laurence about his day, from the very beginning until he had taken Laurence back into his care. Laurence just stared blankly.

Once again, the lack of any response to his voice, made Ludwig's heart feel like breaking.

"Wait.. maybe... maybe you react to my music!", Ludwig suddenly exclaimed, leaving the room to fetch his violin.

After all, Ludwig playing the violin was how he even noticed that Laurence had been interested in him, not missing any of the concerts he liked to give for the church members.

Ludwig spent the whole evening practically giving Laurence a private concert, but.. to no avail.

Hopefully Ludwig managed to at least ease Laurence' suffering. If he was aware of his surroundings, hearing a nice violin concert of his boyfriend surely was nicer than nothing.

"Let's get you to the bathroom and then clean you up.", Ludwig murmured as he scooped Laurence out of the bed, gently putting him on his feet.

This night, Laurence clung to Ludwig's arm again.

(Author's note: Oh gee, you guys still think the old blood doesn't have any side effects. Oh, the IRONY.)


	5. Chapter 5

p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Summary: The weeks are passing. Ludwig decides to do something. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"A week later not much had changed about Laurence' condition only that the rest of the church had found out. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Of course they couldn't cover up forever... It led to some heated discussions between the church ministers who should be his substitute while he was sick. Ludwig still brought Laurence along to the usual activities like the prayers, carefully out of sight of the citizens though. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Maybe hearing the prayers would evoke a reaction in Laurence, but to no avail. He stayed unresponsive, just staring into nothing. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig kept talking to Laurence, dressed and fed him in the morning, accompanied him for using the bath room, left him in the care of the infirmary during his duties (but visited every lunch break) and took him back into his care at the evenings, cleaning him up before they went to bed. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Where Laurence without fail had clung to him every single night. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig also continued to read poetry to Laurence or play the violin for him. He hadn't given up hope. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"He strongly believed that Laurence would get healthy again. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig also tried to evoke a reaction in Laurence with the church cats. Laurence had brought almost all of them himself in the church and now they felt like a part of the interior, were allowed to freely roam and a big joy for a lot of the church folks. They also kept pests out of the church. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig brought another one of them into Laurence' bed every night, but while the cats recognized him and cuddled and purred, Laurence didn't acknowledge them at all. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig still kept bringing them into his room. Laurence loved cats and he still hoped they would have a positive reaction on him. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"-/span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Another week later still no improvement. Ludwig just was in the process of getting the stuff ready to clean Laurence up, the latter standing in front of the door to the bathroom, when he heard a loud thud. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig twirled around, hastening to the still form on Laurence lying down on the ground. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Laurence, are you alright?", Ludwig asked, gently scooping him up, cradling his head into his hands only to see blood trickling down his forehead. "Oh no, you are bleeding." Of course Laurence didn't answer. Also technically he hadn't been alright for two weeks now./span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"So far it never had been a problem to just let Laurence stand idle, he would go nowhere and just start walking again when tugged at his arm. That was the first time he fell. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig rummaged around for a handkerchief, normally used for Laurence' nosebleed and pressed it against the bleeding wound. Laurence didn't move or complain. He didn't even seem to be in pain. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"I better get you to the infirmary...", Ludwig murmured, scooping up Laurence to carry him in his arms. With a bleeding head wound like this, Ludwig really felt uncomfortable forcing him to walk. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"At the infirmary Ludwig explained what had happened as the doctor stitched up the wound and treated Laurence with a small blood vial. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"It could be better to use the wheelchair then.", they said. "After barely moving for two weeks, his legs have gotten weaker. They probably can't support him properly anymore. Besides, it's easier to move him around in a wheelchair. He may not be tall, but a lot of the doctors and nurses here aren't as huge as you are, Ludwig. So here in the infirmary we put him in the wheelchair all the time." /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"I know.", Ludwig sighed. "... Just how long will he be in that state? It has been two weeks and hearing that his body gets weaker... I am worried." /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"I wish we knew what to do. There is barely any research about people in a catatonic state. Sadly waiting is all we can do for now." /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"They finished with applying a band aid to Laurence' wound and gestured over to the wheelchair, wordlessly implying for Ludwig to put Laurence into it. Ludwig carried Laurence over to it and gently lowered him in the wheelchair. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Saying his thanks to the doctor, Ludwig started to push Laurence out of the infirmary. "Let's skip cleaning for today, but you still need your bathroom break...", Ludwig told Laurence. He didn't knew if Laurence could hear him. But he felt like he at least should try. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"This day Ludwig put Laurence into bed early. He still clung to his arm. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"That has to mean something.", Ludwig said, stroking Laurence hair with his unoccupied arm, carefully avoiding the head wound. "Maybe it is an attempt to communicate? But what is it you want to say...?"/span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"-/span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Another week had passed. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"The discussions of the church ministers went behind locked doors and seemed to get more and more heated. Ludwig had started to go out with Laurence the past week, normally at a time where the streets weren't that occupied./span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"He needed some fresh air and so their evening "walk" was becoming a new regularity. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig mostly used the wheelchair to move Laurence around nowadays, but he managed to find out that he still could stand and walk when supported, so he made sure to help Laurence on his feet and walk a few steps with him now and then. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"It has been three weeks and still no improvement...", Ludwig murmured one day while he pushed Laurence back into the church. "Laurence, I am worried. Why won't you get better...?" /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"This evening Ludwig wanted to try something new. After he had cleaned Laurence up, he brought him to what he remembered was his favourite window in the church. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"A window that had a great look over all of Yharnam. Laurence loved to watch over the town out of it. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig carefully supported Laurence and positioned him in front of the window. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Look, it's Yharnam.", he said. "Our home. You always said you loved this view." /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig had expected that Laurence would just stare and do nothing again, being unresponsive as he had been the last three weeks. What he didn't expect was that Laurence clung to him. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"That had only happened in the nights now.../span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Laurence?", Ludwig asked. "Are you there? Are you with me?" /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"He could hear how Laurence' breathing got faster and he clung even harder to Ludwig, starting to shake, his eyes were once not focus less but intensely stared at something down at the city. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Laurence, what's wrong?!", Ludwig asked, growing more and more worried. That had been the most reaction of Laurence he had seen the past three weeks, but this wasn't a positive reaction./span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"He seemed to be terrified. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Let's... let's get you back to your room.", Ludwig said and turned around, leading Laurence back to his wheelchair. He wanted to bring Laurence back to his room instantly, but he clung so hard to his arm and was shaking so badly, that he had to wait several more minutes, stroking his hair and saying encouraging words until he calmed down. br /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"And sadly, fell back into his unresponsive state again. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"After Ludwig had put Laurence back into the wheelchair, he stroked his arm that Laurence had clung to with some inhuman strength. Felt like it would bruise. Ludwig turned around to the window and slowly walked over to take a look, letting his gaze wander above the town./span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"He noticed that it was possible to see Odeon Chapel from this window. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Odeon Chapel... that is where all of this started.", Ludwig mused. Maybe it would be wise to take a look around there?/span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"-/span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"The next time Ludwig had a day off, he delivered Laurence at the infirmary and wandered over to Odeon Chapel, where he found Father Gascoigne, seemingly surprised to see him./span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig, what are you doing here? There haven't been any beast sightings lately around this part of town."/span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Oh, I am not here because of beasts, but because of Laurence.", Ludwig replied. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"...Is he still not better? It has been weeks." /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Sadly no. You have found him in this state in front of Odeon Chapel. I wanted to ask you if you noticed something strange." /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Well, when Vicar Laurence came here for the mass, he looked incredibly uncomfortable. He played it down, but I had the feeling he thought that something was chasing him or such, he looked around all the time and I had the feeling he was afraid." /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"...Shortly before we entered, he claimed that there was something sitting on Odeon Chapel.", Ludwig mentioned. Both of them stared at the roof of the chapel. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Nothing's there.", Gascoigne said. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"I said that too. We thought he simply had hallucinations. But..."/span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Would a hallucination lave Laurence in a catatonic state? /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Was there anything you noticed when you found him?", Ludwig asked. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Besides him having wetted himself, nothing.", Gascoigne answered. "Whatever it was he has seen, it must have scared him badly." /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"...", Ludwig had to consider. Judging from Laurence' scared reaction when he had seen Odeon Chapel this made sense, but... knowing that he was scared wouldn't help them heal him. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"I thank you for your time, Father Gascoigne.", he said. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Anytime.", the priest answered as Ludwig slowly walked back to the church. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"-/span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"When Ludwig cleaned up Laurence this evening, he noticed how thin he had become. Laurence had always been scrawny, but... his ribs never had poked out like this. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"In hindsight, it felt obvious because Laurence had barely been able to eat well this last few weeks. He was barely moving, spending most of his time in a wheelchair, of course he would lose weight and some muscle mass. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"It was concerning. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Very concerning indeed. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig had worried constantly about Laurence' state the last few weeks now, but had almost reached a point where he had gotten used to it. He didn't like that. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"I wish I could do more for you.", Ludwig said this night before Laurence clung to his arm in the night. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"-/span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"When Ludwig passed the church ministers the next day while pushing Laurence he overheard them saying a few words. It were "new vicar", "votes" and "should be done soon." /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"He confronted them: "What are you talking about?" /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Oh Ludwig, we were talking about the voting for who the new vicar should be.", one of the ministers explained. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"New vicar?", Ludwig couldn't believe his eyes. "Laurence isn't dead! He's still the vicar!" /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Of course Laurence was completely unfazed by the whole discussion, just sitting in the wheelchair with this blank eyes. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig, just look at him. It has been a month now! He's a lost cause!", the church minister loudly said, pointing at Laurence./span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig felt like someone had stabbed his heart. He didn't want to hear that. Not that words. He hadn't given up on Laurence. He knew he was still there. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"But apparently, he was one of the only ones. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Biting back any words he could hurl at the church ministers, Ludwig turned around and pushed Laurence into the direction of the infirmary. While he was lost in his thoughts, Ludwig ran into Florence. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Florence, do you think that Laurence is a lost cause?", Ludwig asked, voice shaking. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"The church ministers, right?", Florence asked in return. "I am still staying loyal to him, but... it's time we do something." /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Agreed.", Ludwig said. "It's time we do something."/span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"This evening at their "walk", Ludwig pushed Laurence into the direction of Odeon Chapel. When they were almost there, Ludwig helped Laurence rose on his feet, slung an arm around his shoulders and supported him to walk the last few steps with him. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Once they came closer to door leading into the chapel, Laurence' eyes widened, his gaze clearly at something on Odeon Chapel. Ludwig stared really hard in the same direction, but he couldn't see anything. He took another step forward, when he felt Laurence pressing against him, both arms clung around his own. And Laurence was shaking. His whole body seemed to spasm. Ludwig instantly felt that this probably had been a bad idea, but... he couldn't waste any chances. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Laurence, what is it?", he asked. "What happened to you here?" /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"It felt like picking at straws. Ludwig wasn't really expecting an answer. He shouldn't have come here. He never had seen Laurence so shaken up and it felt even worse because he barely had been responsive the last few weeks, so Ludwig's heart froze when Laurence spoke. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"No... not here... want away... it's.. it's coming to get me..."/span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Laurence, what is it?", Ludwig asked, but was taken aback instantly when he saw the state Laurence was in. He clung so hard to his arm that it hurt now, he was shaking like a leave in a storm and there were tears in his eyes. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Please.. get me.. away.", Laurence choked out. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Understood.", Ludwig said and scooped Laurence up. He brought him back to the wheelchair, but when Ludwig tried to position Laurence into it, he refused to let go of his arm. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Please, Laurence, I promise nothing will happen to you. We are going back to the church.", Ludwig said, stroking his hair. It took Ludwig several more minutes of hair stroking and talking to Laurence for him to calm down enough to let go of Ludwig's arm and let himself sit down in the wheelchair. Where he was still shaking very hard. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig's arm hurt. The constant clinging of Laurence at the same spot had made it bruise. He slightly massaged the hurt spot before he started to push Laurence back to the church, thinking. This had been the most reaction he had gotten out of Laurence in weeks, but... he had been so afraid. What was the thing that was going to get him? What had Laurence seen that he couldn't? Not knowing and fearing that this action somehow could have worsened Laurence' state made Ludwig's heart feel like shattering. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"I am so sorry, Laurence.", Ludwig said. "I shouldn't have you brought to this place." /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Laurence didn't respond. Although still shaking, he seemed to have gotten back into this catatonic state. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Maybe Laurence was trying to protecting himself? It was a possibility. But Ludwig had no clue how he could help Laurence getting over that intense fear. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Back in the church, he brought Laurence into bed. Laurence didn't stop shaking the whole night and Ludwig spend most of the night trying to calm him down by making sure that nobody was after him and stroking his hair and back. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"The sun almost was rising once Laurence managed to calm down. He had clung so hard to Ludwig's arm that there was a constant dull pain now. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig sighed. This was a small price he had to pay for what he had put Laurence through. Going to Odeon Chapel had been a terrible idea. He should find a way to make it up to Laurence somehow. His own desperation had driven him to bring Laurence to a place he had clearly shown having been afraid of in the past and this had been the result. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig still allowed himself to close his eyes and get a little bit of sleep. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"When he awoke, Laurence was completely back in his original unresponsive state. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"With a sigh, Ludwig got up. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Let's get you presentable.", he said and started the usual morning routine. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"After Laurence was dressed for the day, Ludwig intended to bring him to the infirmary like usual, when Florence approached him. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Good morning, Ludwig. Can I talk to you?", she asked. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig stopped walking: "Good morning, Florence. Of course." /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Excellent.", Florence spoke up. "I have done some research and there is a clinic that specializes in treating patients that are like Vicar Laurence right now. Who.. changed after they claimed they saw something. I have found it and managed to make an appointment for him.." /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"Ludwig just stared at her blankly. He probably rivalled Laurence' blank look. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;""span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"I am an idiot.", he murmured, throwing his hands up. /span/p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" /p  
p lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"(Author's note: I decided to time skip a bit to get things moving. Also, we reached a climax of the fic. I think this story will be told in 7 to 8 chapters. Thanks for everyone who followed it. Your kudos, likes, reblogs or comments are meaning a lot.)/span/p 


	6. Chapter 6

Summary: Ludwig gets Laurence some professional help.

"But Ludwig, why would you derogate yourself like this?", Florence exclaimed.

"Because...", Ludwig started. "I have done something bad."

When Florence had spoken about doing something, her idea had been to find a place which was equipped and filled with trained personal who knew what to do.

His idea had been to force Laurence at the place where his trauma had started.

"...When is this appointment?", Ludwig asked.

"This afternoon. Don't worry, I already covered for you. I thought you probably wanted to bring him there on your own."

She stared at him questioning, but Ludwig knew Florence well enough to know that she wouldn't ask further questions if he wasn't comfortable talking about it. So he just nodded to her, saying: "Thank you, Florence."

"You are welcome.", she said. "I want to see him get better too, you know."

In the afternoon Ludwig brought Laurence to the clinic. It was a small building in Central Yharnam, almost hidden in some side road. He entered it and was told to wait once he had registered Laurence. It didn't surprise him, because he pretty much had come an hour too early.

Ludwig parked Laurence' wheelchair near the wall and sat down. From what Florence had told him, the clinic apparently had been founded by two Byrgenwerth graduates. And they focused on healing people who seemingly had lost their mind.

While Ludwig waited, his gaze fell on the other two patients in the room, apparently waiting for their appointments, both of them were accompanied by a relative or friend. A man who did nothing but mumble. And a girl which forcefully had to be restricted to bang her head against the wall. Ludwig glanced sideways at Laurence. His condition wasn't good too, but at least he didn't had the tendency to self destruct...

Ludwig also kind of hoped that the people in the clinic wouldn't ask too much questions. He as the holy blade and Laurence as the vicar of the Healing Church weren't unknown in Yharnam. He needed to make sure that there would be utmost discretion...

Because Ludwig had been far too early, he still had to wait a bit. He spent most of the waiting time looking at Laurence, ready to help him should anything unusual happen, but he stayed in his usual unresponsive state.

"Next is Vicar Laurence, please."

Ludwig shot up when he heard the name and hurried over, cursing a bit under his breath that they had said his title too. "Yes, over here.", he said, pushing Laurence' wheelchair into the examination room. Ludwig was greeted by a small woman with long blond hair.

"Greetings, I am Dr. Isabella.", she said, her gaze on Laurence. "You must be Vicar Laurence, how are you feeling?"

After there was no response, she turned her attention at Ludwig: "Unresponsive?"

"Yes.", Ludwig said. "Our doctors said he is in a catatonic state."

"How long has he been in that state?", Dr. Isabella asked.

"It must have been a month now...", Ludwig said. "Maybe a few days more, I am not too sure."

"And what has left him in this state?" She had kneeled down to take a closer look at Laurence. Ludwig noticed that she seemed to check his pulse.

"Unknown.", Ludwig replied. "He was found like this in front of Odeon Chapel and hasn't showed a reaction since then." Well, that wasn't entirely true. "Well, mostly..."

"Anything happened prior to him being found in that state?"

"Yes. He claimed that there was something on Odeon Chapel and he seemed to be afraid of it. But he said that it probably were just hallucinations. He.. often doesn't sleep for days, so I thought..."

"Besides, you probably couldn't see anything, right?", the doctor asked further. Ludwig nodded.

"Anything else I should know? You mentioned that he mostly was unresponsive. In which situation did he manage to break out of it?"

"Well...", Ludwig was at a loss. How should he tell Dr. Isabella about the clinging in the night when their relationship wasn't public. But... he had to. "Please keep this a secret from anybody, but he clung to my arm whenever we were sleeping."

Ludwig saw Dr. Isabella's eyes widen shortly, but she quickly gained back her composure. "Of course. I guess this was what made you believe that he isn't a lost cause?"

"Yes.", Ludwig nodded. "And also... Once when I brought him to look out of his favourite window, he also clung to my arm. I then have brought him back to Odeon Chapel and there, he even talked." He was silent for a brief second, before he added in a small voice: "I knew that probably had been a bad idea..."

Ludwig had expected that he would get a scolding, but he hadn't anticipated that Dr. Isabella would glare at him.

"You never, ever bring a person back to the location of their trauma. Understood?" Her voice felt like it was throwing daggers.

"I know.", Ludwig said, shrinking in himself. "I know it was a bad idea. He needed so long to calm down. I was desperate. He is growing weaker and weaker. I just... wanted to do something."

"Be glad that you haven't made his state far worse.", the doctor said, a hand on her forehead. "At least tell me what were the words he had been saying?"

"He wanted to get away. Said there was something coming to get him. He... he begged me to get him away from there. What I did."

Dr. Isabella nodded at his words and put her attention back on Laurence. She didn't ask any further questions, worked in silence for a while, doing several examinations and then exclaimed: "Alright, it's just what I thought."

"And that is?", Ludwig asked, heart fluttering and sinking at the same time.

"It's a pretty severe case of Frenzy.", she said.

"Of what?", Ludwig asked. He never had heard about this before.

"Let me explain it. We don't know why, but around Yharnam people often seem to lose their mind. It shows in the most different ways. You probably have seen at the other patients in the waiting room."

Ludwig nodded, slightly shuddering at this memory.

"We don't exactly know what is causing this state, but people who have it kind of had their brain overloaded.", Dr. Isabella continued. "Hm.. how can I explain this? You are a hunter, right? Like when your gun overloads and explodes."

"I don't use a gun but I know what you mean.", Ludwig said, shuddering some more. The mental image of Laurence' brain literally exploding had been a bit much.

Still, he felt somewhat at ease. At least Laurence' sickness had a name now. But that wouldn't mean anything if he would stay like this forever.

"Can he be healed?", Ludwig asked.

"We have concocted a medicine back at Byrgenwerth that helps clearing this state. Though, it could take a while. We have to find out how much of it we can use, Frenzy often needs to be treated a long time. It would be easiest if you could leave Vicar Laurence in our care for a while."

Ludwig shifted around on his chair. He didn't feel comfortable just giving Laurence into the care of this strangers, but... they clearly knew what they were doing. More than him. In just a few moments Laurence' sickness had gotten a name and they even claimed that they could him.

"Can I come visit him?", Ludwig asked.

Dr. Isabella gave him a smile. "Of course."

Ludwig stood up, stroke over Laurence' hair and then gave the doctor a rundown about anything he had learned while taking care of Laurence this past month. When he was finished, he noticed that he almost overlooked to say the most important.

"Um, please handle this case with the utmost discretion. Please don't tell anyone outside of the clinic that the Holy Blade has brought the Vicar of the Healing Church here. You probably get why this has to be treated with the utmost discretion. "

"Don't worry.", Dr. Isabella smiled again. "We have sworn an oath. We aren't allowed to tell people outside of this clinic about the identity of our patients anyway."

The next few days nothing much had changed about Ludwig's days other than he spent his lunch breaks and the evenings at the clinic at Laurence' side.

Laurence had gotten a small room at the clinic where he was brought for the nights. The rest of the day he was brought in the common room, where three other patients also stayed, a nurse carefully watching over them.

Dr. Isabella told Ludwig that they had started treatment with a medicine they called sedatives, but Laurence hadn't responded to it yet. She calmed Ludwig down that it could take a while, especially after have Laurence had been in this state for so long. Her and her brother Dr. Jules also were there to answer any questions he had.

"But why did Laurence react like this? Being in a catatonic state I mean?", Ludwig asked one day.

"I guess to protect himself.", Dr. Isabella replied. "You have mentioned that he showed paranoid behaviour. Maybe he thinks when he stays still, that he is safe." While saying this, Dr. Isabella glared at Ludwig. She still hadn't forgive him for exposing Laurence to the place of his trauma. Ludwig hadn't even forgiven himself for it.

"What do we do if he doesn't respond to the medicine...?", Ludwig asked.

"It has only been three days. Don't give up hope yet. It can take up to two weeks before a patient responds to the sedatives. They are still in development. We try to make them better every time."

"Wait, are you testing these things on Laurence?!", Ludwig shouted out, maybe a bit louder than he wanted.

"Of course not.", Dr. Isabella defended herself. "We just would like to have them work better. That is all. For now, we have to wait until he responds to them. His case is pretty severe after all."

"Right, I am sorry.", Ludwig sighed. "I am just so worried..."

"You should go home and take a rest. You don't look good yourself. You told me that you took care of him while still attending to your duties and you come here everyday. Take some time for yourself."

"Right.", Ludwig agreed. "I am sorry to have bothered you."

"We will make sure to tell you once his condition betters."

When he left, Ludwig asked himself if it was more difficult for Dr. Isabella to handle the worried relatives or friends instead of the patients themselves.

(Author's note: Phew, progress is being made! From the start I planned to bring Laurence into a clinic and we are finally here ^^)


	7. Chapter 7

Summary: Laurence is getting better.

When Laurence awoke, he noticed that he wasn't in his room.

It wasn't his office either.

He blinked, wanting to get up, but his body didn't obey. He felt awfully weak. Was he sick?

What had happened to him? His mind felt like there was a big blank.

With much effort, he pulled himself up into a sitting position and scanned the room.

There wasn't much into it. He was laying in a bed with white sheets, dressed in some kind of gown of the same colour. There was a night stand next to him and a cupboard in the corner along a table with two chairs. The room was illuminated through a small window high up in the walls. In the corner he could spot a wheelchair.

That place awfully reminded him of a hospital.

A hospital? Why should he have been brought into a hospital? Just what had happened to him? What was the last thing he remembered?

The creature... Odeon Chapel...

Laurence' heart sank.

What if that wasn't a hospital but an institution like the research hall? Had they experimented on him? Where they in cahoots with that nightmarish monster?

The door to the room opened and Laurence froze as an unknown woman entered it and said: "Vicar Laurence, it is time to get you ready for the day." She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw him, loudly exclaiming: "You are awake." She was at his bed in a flash. "How are you feeling?"

Laurence backed away against the wall. "Who are you?", he asked. His voice felt hoarse and weak. "What happened to me? There was... that _ithing/i_... O.. Odeon Chapel... Are you working with it? Have you kidnapped me?"

"What, no, of course not. You are getting this all wrong.", the woman said, but her tone couldn't calm Laurence down. He wanted to get away. He shuffled to the side of the bed, ready to run once his feet would hit the floor, faintly hearing the woman say: "Wait, what are you doing? You aren't..."

When he connected heavily to the floor, he heard the woman finish her sentence: "...able to walk yet." He noticed a sharp pain in his left hand with which he had tried to stop his fall and he could taste blood. When he raised his right hand to wipe over his lips, he noticed that it steadily trickled out of his nose.

"By the gods, are you alright?", the woman said, kneeling next to him, laying a hand on his shoulder, apparently trying to help him up. "You are bleeding. We need to get you fixed up."

_i"Don't touch me."/i_, Laurence hissed, weakly trying to slap her hand away.

"Please calm down, you are my patient.", the woman said. "You are still sick, and now, also hurt, we need to get you back into bed."

_i"Liar!/i_ Laurence exclaimed. "You are working with it, _iright/i?_ Why can I barely move? You.. have you poisoned me? What have you done to me?" He started to shake uncontrollably.

"Jules, I need a little help!", the woman loudly called, making Laurence flinch. Soon after she had called, a man entered the room, asking: "What happened? Oh, he's awake."

"Jules, get five drops ready. We need him to calm down. He's having a panic attack.", she said.

_i"I don't need to calm down! You have kidnapped me"/i_, Laurence shouted, trying to fight off the woman holding him, but it was no use, his body felt far too weak. He could feel tears prickling at his eyes, his breaths came swallow and he almost felt like suffocating.

The man came over with a glass of water. "Drink this, please.", he said. Laurence only started to shake harder. What if that was poison? He didn't want to take it. He also didn't want to deal with any of this. He felt like climbing under the sheets and not think about anything anymore, as an intense feeling of anxiety bubbled up in his chest. He turned his head away, not wanting to know what his kidnappers had planned with him.

"Please take the medicine.", the woman said. "You... you have been in a catatonic state for several weeks now and your body isn't ready for moving so much yet. You just woke up. And already hurt yourself. Just how shall I explain this to Ludwig? He trusted you in our care."

"Ludwig...?", Laurence asked. A scurry of memories washed over him.

Ludwig reading poetry.

Ludwig playing the violin.

Ludwig feeding him.

Ludwig cleaning him up.

Ludwig talking to him.

"...Has Ludwig brought me here?", he asked, body slumping. He felt so weak.

"Yes.", the woman nodded. "Like I said, you are our patient. And now would you be so kind to take your medicine?"

Laurence stared at the man who had offered him the glass and simply nodded. After he had emptied the glass, a certain calmness spread within him. He almost felt like floating away. Like if he hadn't a care in the world.

"Let's get you back into bed and treat your injuries.", the woman said. Laurence didn't complain. Once he was securely tucked back in, she took care of his injuries, cleaned the nosebleed and bandaged his hand.

"It's not broken, but sprained. Don't move it around so much.", she said. "But well, you aren't exactly able to move a lot yet. By the way, I am Dr. Isabella, this is my brother Dr. Jules and we need to ask you some questions. Do you think you can do this?"

Laurence nodded. All these anxiety from earlier seemed to have washed away.

"How are you feeling?", Dr. Isabella asked.

"Good.", Laurence answered. "Like floating." He wondered if he really could float.

The doctor glanced at her brother. "I think we gave him too much.", she said. "We better do this later." She turned her attention back to Laurence: "Tell us if you need something."

"Can I have something to drink?", he asked. Laurence felt pretty thirsty, after having screamed so much after just having woken up.

"Of course.", Dr. Isabella said and soon handed him a full glass of water, which Laurence drank eagerly.

"Ludwig will be so happy to see that you are awake.", she mentioned.

Hearing this brought Laurence down from his high feeling for a bit: "Is he coming here?", he asked.

"Yes, he has come here to see you every single day once you have been brought in.", the doctor nodded. "Tell us if you need anything more. We will talk later."

Spending the rest of the morning in bed, the high feeling dwindled and left Laurence with anxiety and questions again. He believed that this place was a hospital, he knew he could fully trust Ludwig on this, but...

A few things came into his mind. Had the doctor mentioned he had been in a catatonic state? For several weeks? Who had been taking care of the church while he had been out? Laurence hoped Ludwig could answer this questions once he came. Which hopefully was soon. Once the feeling of being on a rush completely dwindled, Laurence became aware how much his nose and hand did hurt. The impact had been rather hard. He wouldn't be surprised if his face was all bruised.

When Dr. Isabella came back a while later, asking if she could talk to him now, Laurence first had to ask for a bathroom break. His mind asked himself how in the world he had gotten this done while being unresponsive and the image of Ludwig flashed before him once again. Had Ludwig really... Laurence didn't knew if he should be embarrassed or thankful for it.

Once he was back in bed, Dr. Isabella repeated her question from earler once again: "How are you feeling?"

"Weak.", Laurence answered. "Like being sick. Have trouble moving. And anxious."

"That's because you had been in a catatonic state for, let's see, five weeks now.", the doctor mentioned and Laurence eyes widened.

"How long?!", he exclaimed. He thought it had maybe been two weeks. "..What kind of sickness do I have? What was the medicine you gave me earlier?", he wanted to know.

"We call it a Frenzy. The medicine we gave you is called sedatives, we concocted it back when we were at Byrgenwerth and got the permission to work further on it here in Yharnam.", she answered.

Laurence face darkened as the mention of Byrgenwerth, but the part before that was much more interesting.

"Frenzy...?", Laurence asked. "Is this place something like an asylum?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it like this, but we specialize on healing people who have lost their mind. From seeing things they shouldn't. Being in a Frenzy simply means that your brain couldn't handle certain information.", she explained. "Your way of coping with it was by shutting down, but you have responded to the sedatives rather quickly. We can focus on getting you back to society soon."

Laurence relaxed just a tiny bit at this answer. This condition probably also was the reason for the anxiety he was feeling.

"You mentioned you were from Byrgenwerth?", Laurence asked further. He didn't knew how he should feel about being treated with a medicine from a place he broke all bonds with and never intended to return.

"We know your history with Master Willem and I can assure you, while we originally made this medicine at Byrgenwerth, now our research is our own. We simply needed permission. We strife to make it better, so that anyone in a Frenzy can be healed instantly."

"Alright.", Laurence said, staring at the ceiling. "This anxious feeling.. has it something to do with that so called Frenzy condition?", he asked after a while.

"For this we need to talk about the cause of your Frenzy.", Dr. Isabella said. "Are you already ready for this? I would like to let you settle first because of the severity of your condition."

Laurence shook his head. No, he wasn't ready talking about it yet. He felt very much far too terrified even thinking about Odeon Chapel. He almost wished he could get another dose of this medicine.

"You haven't had breakfast yet, you must be hungry.", the doctor stated. "Would you like to try and eat something?" Before Laurence could answer, the door creaked. "Oh, seems like Ludwig is here.", Dr. Isabella smiled and moved out of the way. Not a moment too late because once the door was open, Ludwig basically rushed to Laurence, giving him a suffocating hug.

"Laurence, I was SO worried.", he sobbed. "I thought you would never wake up. Just... what has happened?"

"I... I'll tell you if you stop suffocating me.", Laurence gasped.

"Sorry.", Ludwig said, releasing Laurence, sitting down on the bed next to him. Laurence gasped for air and Dr. Isabella gave Ludwig a scolding look.

"Be a bit more gentle, would you?", she said. "I am leaving you alone for now. Call me should you need something."

Once she was gone, Laurence shuffled closer to Ludwig, leaning his body against his large frame. Ludwig stroke over his hair and Laurence instantly felt like melting. That always happened when someone petted his hair. He slumped against Ludwig, just relishing the feeling.

"Laurence? Are you still there? Please answer me.", Ludwig suddenly shouted, shaking him. Laurence hissed in sudden pain.

"Ludwig, what the hell?", he asked.

"Sorry.", Ludwig apologized once again. "I thought you were going unresponsive again... Just please tell me what happened. I wanted to know this for five weeks now!" Ludwig stared at Laurence face, asking: "Wait, what happened to your face? Your nose is all bruised up."

"I fell.", Laurence answered. "Ludwig, you will probably be mad at me for what I tell you. I have made a big mistake. I... actually... don't really want to talk about this either. "

"You are not the only one who made a mistake...", Ludwig murmured. "...I won't force you to talk, but could you at least try? I have been worried sick about you for far too long now."

"You remember O... Odeon Chapel?" Laurence hated that he started stuttering.

Ludwig nodded.

"The thing I saw on it? It... it wasn't a hallucination.", Laurence explained. "I... went t.. to face it.", he brought out. The feeling of anxiety in his chest had gotten suffocating again and so he just leaned into Ludwig's embrace, silent tears dripping down his face.

"Let me guess.. alone and at night?", Ludwig asked. Laurence nodded.

"You _iidiot/i_!", Ludwig shouted, tears in his eyes, embracing Laurence once more. "Why haven't you come to me?"

"I should have.", Laurence sniffled. "I wish I had."

They spend a while in this embrace until both of their tears had ceased.

"What about the church?", Laurence asked. Ludwig huffed at this question, clearly mad.

"They said that you were a lost cause. They were talking about replacing you. Believe me, me and Florence have done everything to delay their votes. Now that you are awake, they don't have a reason for this anymore."

"Have I been this bad?", Laurence asked, leaning a bit more into Ludwig. Ludwig took upon the hint and gently placed Laurence on his lap.

"It has been bad. You barely responded to anything. You looked, like, you were awake, but... you didn't move or talk and when someone spoke to you you didn't answer. It felt like talking with a statue. Which could breathe.", Ludwig said. Laurence could hear the stress and worry out of his voice alone. "Laurence, do you remember anything of it?"

Laurence shifted around on Ludwig's lap. "Bits and pieces.", he answered. "I remember that you were there. You were reading to me. Or playing the violin. I think I remember you playing with Mick and he knocked down all the books on my night stand."

Laurence could feel how Ludwig embraced him a bit more. "I was hoping that you wouldn't realize that you were stuck in your body..." His voice sounded so _ihurt/i._ It must have been bad for Ludwig.

"I hardly was aware of myself.", Laurence answered. "I remember... being anxious. I think I clung to you when you were close."

"Anything else?", Ludwig asked.

"...I think you accompanied me to the bathroom.", Laurence said with a blank face, cheeks turning slightly red. Ludwig scooped him up, bringing Laurence closer to his face, whispering: "That was better than having to change your whole garb every time you needed to go." His face was flushed slightly red too.

"Don't you remember anything of your time in the clinic?", Ludwig asked. Laurence shook his head.

"I only remember being with you."

With their faces so near to each other and the realization that they practically didn't had a chance to do this since weeks, th next thing Laurence knew was, that they were kissing each other. It bordered on them making out with each other, when Dr. Isabella entered the room, saying: "It's time for your medicine." She dropped whatever she was holding when she saw both of them laying like that on the bed. Ludwig shot up, carefully helping Laurence in a sitting position. Laurence felt awfully busted.

"I am sorry to interrupt.", she said, clearing her throat. "But he still is a bit too weak for, uh, that... Please control yourself."

Laurence questioningly stared from Ludwig to Dr. Isabella and to Ludwig again. "She knows.", Ludwig said. "Don't worry, she swore that she would say nobody." This allowed Laurence to relax.

"So, would you like to try and eat something along taking your medicine?", Dr. Isabella asked. Laurence considered and then nodded. His stomach felt like it hadn't had anything decent to eat in a while.

Ludwig picked Laurence up with no effort at all: "Let's get you into the wheelchair."

The way Laurence was lifted into the air by Ludwig made it clear that Ludwig had done this countless times by now. "You are far too thin.", Ludwig murmured. "Only skin and bones." He gently lowered Laurence into the wheelchair and went behind it to push him.

"He will take on some weight now that he's awake and can eat properly again.", Dr. Isabella said. "But first, the medicine." She handed Laurence a glass with a tiny amount of water which was probably mixed with the medicine. Laurence took it and swallowed it in one gulp.

A few moments later, Laurence felt far better, his anxiety once again taken away from him. What he still felt though, was annoyance. Ludwig seemed to insist to have to feed him.

"I surely can eat on my own.", Laurence said as he once again tried to snatch the spoon out of Ludwig's hand and failed because Ludwig was much taller than him and it cost him great effort to even lift his arm that high.

"But... what if you eat to hastily? And choke? Or eat to quickly and need to vomit? Or what if you let the spoon drop and burn yourself?", Ludwig rambled on.

"I am not a toddler, Ludwig. Just let me eat on my own.", Laurence complained.

"Sorry.", Ludwig said. "I am just still worried about you. I mean, you just woke up and shouldn't overexert yourself." Ludwig finally handed the spoon to Laurence.

"How shall I overexert myself by eating soup?", Laurence said, chuckling, slowly starting to eat. It took him quite some while to get the plate empty, especially with Ludwig watching every single one of his movements. He eventually gave in and allowed Ludwig to feed him the last few spoons.

After eating, Ludwig asked if he could take Laurence out on a walk and after he got permission, he pushed Laurence through a few small side roads which he recognized were somewhere in Central Yharnam.

"Laurence, I hope you are never doing something like this again.", Ludwig mentioned. Laurence didn't answer. The medicine seemed to wear off and filled his chest with anxiety again. He asked himself if he could ask the doctor for more later?

Seemingly worried by his unresponsiveness, Ludwig asked: "Laurence? Please answer me."

Ripped out of his thoughts, Laurence simply said: "Sorry."

"Please try to understand me.", Ludwig told him. "You have been unresponsive for so long. I get worried when you don't speak to me."

"Sorry.", Laurence said once again.

"Laurence? Can I ask you something?"

"Hm?"

"What exactly was it that the _ithing/i_ did to you that left you in this state?"

Laurence wanted to open his mouth to give an explanation, but he couldn't. Instead he started to shiver, hugging himself, breathing in short intervals. Ludwig rushed from behind the wheelchair to the front, kneeling down, saying: "It's alright. You don't have to answer. Just please, calm down."

After a copious amount of hair petting Laurence managed to calm down.

"I am sorry, Ludwig.", he said. "I still need some time."

The next few days in the clinic were spend mostly with careful muscle training and Dr. Isabella interviewing Laurence on the incident at Odeon Chapel.

While Laurence became a bit more confident talking about it, he still shut down and quietly panicked whenever he tried to recall what happened after that creature had grabbed him.

Soon, the day for Laurence' discharge came. He still wasn't able to walk for long periods at a time, but Ludwig had learned how to help him with the muscle training and being able to walk again was only a matter of time. At the moment, Laurence still was bound to the wheelchair, while Dr. Isabella explained to him how he should take his sedatives.

"Take two drops in the morning, two during lunch and two before you go to sleep. You shouldn't take more than 6 drops a day. Be sure to take them with enough water. Please don't put them in any other drink."

Laurence nodded. "Understood."

"It should be enough to last for a month. We should make an appointment in the next three weeks, to see how you are doing."

"I will send Florence to make one.", Laurence said. "My personal secretary.", he added. According to Ludwig, Florence had been as worried as him and was all to eager to welcome Laurence back in the church.

"Then you are good to go.", Dr. Isabella smiled at him. "I assume Ludwig is coming to fetch you?"

Laurence nodded: "Yes." After a brief moment of silence, he added: "Thank you..."

"Having the thanks of the Vicar of the Healing Church, what an honour.", Dr. Isabella laughed, but then said: "It has been my pleasure. Seeing this things that nobody else can see is scary, right? I have been there, that's why I opened up this clinic."

Laurence simply stared at her. At one hand, knowing that he definitely wasn't the only one seeing things felt incredibly comforting, on the other hand... it was worrying.

Back at the church, the first thing that happened was that Florence gave Laurence one of her motherly hugs, quickly pulling away and getting her secretary persona in place again, once she realized what she was doing.

The next thing the three of them did was paying the church ministers a visit. While Laurence lectured them about their hasty decisions, he had the feeling, that Florence and Ludwig both looked very satisfied.

And then... Laurence pretty got back into his daily routine with the exception that he was still wheelchair bound and often was accompanied by Florence or Ludwig simply to be able to move around. Ludwig continued muscle training with him however and soon he was able to walk a bit more again, even though it still took him at least a month before he felt secure enough to leave the wheelchair for good.

He also went to his scheduled appointment with Dr. Isabella who was very satisfied about his progress. He still needed to take the sedatives though. Every time he thought about leaving them be, the anxiety came back and Laurence didn't want do deal with it on top of everything else.

The current day had been one, where Laurence didn't went to sleep and instead decided to research a bit more, but decided to take a break and wandered through the church.

As he came to the window overlooking Yharnam, his gaze fell on Odeon Chapel.

The creature was still on it, with its too many limbs, too many eyes, too many tentacles.

Uneasy, Laurence made his way back to his office, gaze on the sedatives bottle on his desk.

He already had taken his full six drops for the day.

Pouring himself a glass of water, Laurence opened up the bottle of sedatives.

...Surely eight drops a day wouldn't hurt.

(Author's note: And that's it! This story idea hit me like crazy and I just needed to write it out. I decided to make the last chapter a bit longer because it felt just too awkward getting a break anywhere in there.

So, how did you like the story? Do you think my idea of the condition of Frenzy worked? What was your favourite part? Tell me in the comments!)


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